Judge orders railway to pay $400 million for oil train trespass

Western Energy News will not publish tomorrow for the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back Thursday.

OIL & GAS: A federal judge orders BNSF Railway to pay nearly $400 million to the Swinomish Tribe for violating an easement agreement by repeatedly running 100-car oil trains across its land in Washington state. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Wyoming lawmakers consider levying a tax on power dispensed from direct current electric vehicle fast charging stations as part of an effort to offset gasoline tax revenue decreases. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• Southern California environmental justice advocates work to expand the public electric vehicle charging network in a county targeted for lithium extraction. (KPBS)

TRANSPORTATION: Colorado regulators find a Denver-area transit agency failed to address escalating light rail maintenance problems that have slowed trains and stymied service. (CPR)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• A Hawaii electric cooperative says solar, hydropower and biomass made up nearly 58% of its generation mix in 2023, putting it far ahead of the state’s requirement of 40% renewables by 2030. (Coop News)
• The U.S. Agriculture Department awards $9.12 million to a northern Colorado electric cooperative aimed at helping it add more clean energy to its portfolio without raising rates. (Colorado Newsline)

SOLAR:

• An Australian solar window manufacturer plans to establish a headquarters in San Jose, California. (Redlands Daily Facts)
• A developer completes construction on a 223 MW solar installation in Colorado. (PV Tech)
• A southern California community choice aggregator begins providing rooftop solar and battery storage to customers without upfront costs. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• California clean energy advocates support legislation that would reverse a new state rule slashing aggregated net metering compensation for rooftop solar on multimeter properties. (Microgrid Knowledge)

ELECTRIFICATION: A California startup develops software aimed at helping people cost-effectively pair home electrification and rooftop solar. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES:

• Southeastern Colorado cities push back on a utility’s proposal to hike the average monthly residential utility bill by $20, saying it would hamper economic development and become ​“just one more burden on a poor community.” (Colorado Sun)
• Southern California Edison considers de-energizing utility lines to avoid new ignitions near a 15,000-acre wildfire north of Los Angeles. (NBC Los Angeles)
• A southern California municipal utility enters long-term contracts to acquire 20 MW of wind power and 25 MW of battery energy storage for about $100 million. (Pasadena Now)

CLIMATE: Conservation groups call on the Biden administration to define extreme heat and wildfire smoke as major disasters and unlock relief funding for affected local governments. (Los Angeles Times)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators seek public input on a Bill Gates-backed plan to build an advanced nuclear reactor in a Wyoming coal community. (WyoFile)

MINING: State and federal regulators approve a uranium mining firm’s proposed exploratory drilling project in western Colorado. (Resource World)